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Symphony No 6 in F major 'Pastoral', S463c

Introduction

The Breitkopf edition of the Pastoral Symphony appeared very shortly after the first edition from Richault and, apart from restoring Beethoven’s German titles for the movements, makes only one serious textual alteration: a new, more practical version of the passage in the finale from bar 133. Liszt actually offers two variants: one an ossia which merely simplifies the Richault text, and the other a main text (recorded here) which leaves out one of Beethoven’s lines altogether in an attempt to concentrate on giving an impression of the sheer volume of the original orchestral sound.

Recordings

'One can only marvel at Leslie Howard's tireless advocacy of Liszt, and the way he constantly overcomes the multitude of technical obstacles in his pa ...'This early Beethoven collection finds Howard on top form. The notes which [he] writes to accompany each issue are erudite, witty, totally enthralling ...» More

Leslie Howard’s recordings of Liszt’s complete piano music, on 99 CDs, is one of the monumental achievements in the history of recorded music. Remarkable as much for its musicological research and scholarly rigour as for Howard’s Herculean piano p ...» More